Chains really didn't work for me.

Entering into Rest

There is undoubted value in entering into regular periods of physical rest. We sleep for a reason. We take vacations for a reason. And, if the book of Genesis (and common sense) are any guide, a weekly day of detachment from labor is a very good thing.

We are not machines.

Rest, however, is not only outward. That part is relatively easy – pull the sheets over your head; schedule a trip to some quiet lake; tell the demands of work to take a hike on weekends.

Where I’ve always failed miserably is inward rest. I have a striving heart, often driven more by fear than confidence. Figure it out – now. Implement it – now. Oh, and by the way…perfectionism.

Uptight much? Real warm and fuzzy right there. Relaxed.

This season of life in Tennessee is, in part, a hopeful adventure into a new realm of inward rest. Bringing up kids, building a career, living in the northeast, and dealing with internal emotional-psychological-spiritual short circuits all along the way has been exhausting.

Yet, God never fails. He is taking me aside and teaching me. He is reaching into long-broken areas of my heart and healing. He is helping me to simply see and believe Him, Who is the ultimate fountain of all rest.

True rest is not merely a practice. It’s a relationship.

Figuring it all out, and implementing perfectly?? Not happening – now or ever. Seeing, and beginning to quietly rest? That plant is growing afresh.

Thanks be to God for His marvelous, patient, lovingkindness!

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One Response

Hey man, I just want to affirm and encourage your heart. You are on your way towards something very good and enriching to you and to those around you. I continue to enjoy your devotional thoughts. Your candor unhinges the door to spaces in my own heart that are not regularly visited.